[chase_nt]

Congratulations on being one of the lucky 100 folk who will get to own and experience the GTI phenomenon in India. I love how exclusive this car is and the chances are most of us enthusiasts may not even get to see a GTI in the flesh. Having owned a GT TSI for about three years and being blown away by the amazing TSI DSG combo, i have to envy the sort of fun you must be having each time you shift into S or activate those paddles in the "Real Deal". The fact that you have all this power and you also have more than capable brakes to dissapate that power in any untoward situation is the icing on the cake. I hated how the GT TSI had brakes that i can only describe as "below average" and got me into some close shaves while driving her spiritedly.

I loved reading your thread from the first word to the last and i believe it deserves 5 stars. There may be a lot of GT TSI's out there masquerading as GTI's however theres no comparison to owning the original cause the rest of them are just pretenders.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

VW estimated that this ‘Sports’ Golf could fetch them additional sales of some 5,000 units or so in total.

4 decades on, we still can't sell even 4% of that number. Different markets, different needs.

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Yes it rev matches and all, but the loud exhaust starts screaming and you tend to startle everyone inside and outside the car.

Well there has to be some drama. What's the point calling it a GTI if there ain't no noise. You need to learn how to do the silly grin with a car like this.

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

For the city I drop the pressure from the recommended 39 /35 PSI front and rear to 34/32 PSI.

These numbers are way too high for our conditions. I recommend dropping it to something like 28/30 and maybe 32/30 for City/Highway cycles. I'd go easy with those tires during Summer.

This breed of car is slowly going away. I recommended everyone who can afford one of these beauties to buy one before its too late. For all you know the next GTI will be all electric and that ain't a GTI to me.

Fantastic report Santosh. Enjoy your new ride.

[AMG Power]

As you've rightly put it - the GTI gives you the feeling that you're driving the fastest thing around. In hindsight, that's the feeling I got when I drove the GTI too and I think it's because the speeds and acceleration levels are in the sweet spot. And that's probably why you gravitate more towards the GTI than the BMW.

This is in contrast to something like the RS7 where you're wondering whether the neck is still connected with your body and you're using your skills to tame the brutality and violence that you experience. The speeds and acceleration are not what you would say are in the sweet zone.

I've also found the Paddle shift / DSG combination to be great in the GTI and the car is always in the power band with the paddle shifts helping you slingshot past cars with ease.

The emotional quotient you've put down is spot on and if VW could have got half of this into their marketing spiel, there might not have been any GTI's left as of now.

Great choice and enjoy your car.

On another note, I'm supposed to have been on an all expense paid trip to the BIC circuit tomorrow to drive the R8, RS6 and the RS7. And my luck being what it is, I'm tied up elsewhere and can't make it!

[loveforjeeps93]

Congratulations on a your spanking new hot hatch! I had taken an extensive TD in a GTI and, boy it did make me grin like a monkey all day long.I even ended up asking the SA to inform me when they plan to sell the TD car. I wish i could lay my hands on a nice used GTI in 2-3 years.

[keroo1099]

Lovely review Santosh. Wish you many happy miles in your 'hot' hatch.

[aditya9567]

Congratulations on buying one of the best driver oriented cars around! Loved reading the review. As a fellow GT TSI owner, I completely relate with everything you've said about the engine gearbox etc. I can only imagine how much more fun this would be when the GT TSI itself is a hoot to drive.



I've installed the GTI wheel on my regular car and it has the mute button as you can see in the pic. Extremely stupid to remove it - can't figure out any reason why this was done.




On the paddle shifters, I've gotten accustomed to them to the point that I never use the D/S mode. I find it to be the best of both worlds - convenience of an automatic and control over what gear you are in. The paddles take care of the lag in the downshifts experienced in the D mode. I have also noticed better FE figures when driven in the manual mode - my theory being that you would typically know what gear to use when, for example while accelerating normally you would hold on to a gear making use of the right torque band whereas the D mode upshifts immediately causing some bit of lugging and higher consumption (just a hypothesis). Link to one of my earlier posts on this.

I would suggest that you put in a little conscious effort in getting used to the paddles, they making the entire driving experience that much more fun!

Cheers!

[petroguzzler]

Congrats on the car Santoshbhat!

The alloys look incredibly well finished and those front seats are just delicious.

[Lone Ranger]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

A twelve year old Santro in the family was due for replacement and I hatched a plan to get myself a nice performance petrol and hand over the Santro’s duties to the GT TSI.

Very nicely written review. I think this must be the only case in the country where a "what car to replace a 12 year old santro" question was answered by "and the VW GTI it is"

I like your clarity of thinking. You bought the car for its main feature (stonking performance) without losing too much sleep over "but it has no auto dimming mirror which even my neighbour's i20 has" and the like.

[rageshgr]

Wow! Great review! Your attention to detail is Germanesque! I think you are the second GT TSI owner here to buy a GTI.

To prefer the GTI to the BMW, that is high praise indeed! It looks menacing in black and may be even better than Red.

I am surprised they gave V rated Turazna tyres. V is 240 kph which is dangerously close to the GTI's Vmax. A Stage1 remap and it will easily do in excess of the V rated tyre's capabilities. And Turanza is a touring tyre. There are better performance rubber in Birdgestone stable. Upgrade your rubber soon, say a PS4

I could feel your enthusiasm in each of the sentence! Enjoy the black beauty till the electrical engines take over, as you said.

[KAUBMW7]

Congrats buddy... a wonderful review of a brilliant car.

I completely second your's (and most people's) thoughts on the GTI being under specced from a luxury/ features perspective. Forget a pano sunroof or electric seats, the auto dimming mirror and auto headlamps are something we should expect bare minimum in a car that costs 25 big ones (even if it is a CBU!)

That is precisely the reason I decided to drop the car despite nearly cutting a cheque for it after test driving it twice from Palace Cross in September. Apart from the missing features, it really is a brilliant machine and a joy to drive. But with Laura TSI L&K being priced near to it and VRS a few lacs away, clearly those are better value for money, especially if one doesn't have a size constraint (like your need to use the hatchback in narrow lanes).

Drive safe and keep us updated mate, not too many GTIs around

[sagar.narasimha]

Firstly congratulations on a wonderful car. Loved the review.

So far I happened to see one car in Bangalore few weeks back in Orion mall. I was coming out of parking to pay the ticket and the car was right behind. I was so excited and started explaining about the car to my wife and mom ( who were my only audience that time ).

I was eagerly waiting for a comprehensive review and finally got to see one.

Regards
Sagar

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

Not sure how reliable it would be, considering the transmission. Petes and Code 6 have already remapped GTI in India. I believe a stage 1 remap would be more than enough.

Strangely DSG failures aren't that common on the 6C Polo GTI which came out in 2015. I did a bit of googling before purchase and the popular opinion is that the 6R GTI with the 1.4 Super charged engine is best avoided. The 1.8 + DSG is far better in reliability. I want to stay positive at this point with regard to DSG. "Aall iz well, aall iz well"

Stock is more than enough for me right now. I don't find it lacking in pace one bit. Its hitting the sweet spot right now. No point in tinkering with something that is perfectly meeting my expectations and needs.

Originally Posted by headers

My question is "How do you find the engine braking in this car / GB combo"?

Engine braking is good. If you lift off throttle when coming downhill, the DSG holds the gear its already in. If you want more engine braking you can shift to manual mode and use the paddle shifters to downshift further. It's very effective overall.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

These numbers are way too high for our conditions. I recommend dropping it to something like 28/30 and maybe 32/30 for City/Highway cycles. I'd go easy with those tires during Summer.

Fantastic report Santosh. Enjoy your new ride.

Thanks Sandeep. 28/30 maybe too low. Low pro tyres generally have high pressures recommended. Sidewall are short and if the pressures are too low, the stiff suspension will exert too much pressure on the tyres and you risk a sidewall bulge. We can't have it all and have to compromise somewhere. Ride quality is actually quite decent as of now. I think once the tyres lose their top layer and suspension bushes and mounts get worn a bit, the ride will worsen. Right now I am finding it hard switching to the softly sprung GT TSI after some time spent in the GTI, than the other way around.

Originally Posted by aditya9567

I would suggest that you put in a little conscious effort in getting used to the paddles, they making the entire driving experience that much more fun!
Cheers!

Yes, I am getting there quickly. Paddles are very engaging to use. Interestingly while using paddles, the exhaust makes some very good noises.

Originally Posted by Varun_HexaGuy

Since you'd even considered the Mini and 330i, didn't you consider the vRS which is more of a bang for the buck. A question which was in my mind wandering for quite long.

That's a good question actually. We've normally had one big car for outstation and family needs and a few small cars which individuals in our house use for intra city. The big car is set with the X3 and the need right now was to replace a small car. Getting the GTI itself was an ambitious plan and because of the high price I got tempted to stretch up to the F30. Overthinking the electric car invasion a bit I guess. The VRS is a great car and is much better value compared to the GTI, no two ways about it. But I really don't need such a big car. The VRS is huge and will be cumbersome for the kind of use I want to put the car to. Also due to the fact that I have owned a modded Laura TSI in the past, the VRS wasn't tugging at my heart strings like the F30. When it came to GTI Vs. VRS, the GTI was a clear winner. F30 330i was tugging at the hear strings a bit, but it was a bad idea overall.

Originally Posted by Varun_HexaGuy

Nonetheless, it's a hell of a garage and a dream garage for many. You're living the dream sir .

Please don't wake me up!

[jalajprakash]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

[b] It seems like DSG woes are not over yet and the DQ200 is one black sheep in the VW litter.

I read that you have decided not to mod the car until after the warranty expires, which is a wise decision but might I suggest that you replace the regular clutch pack with an upgraded Kevlar clutch pack as a reliability upgrade rather than a performance one. I have been looking at used GT TSIs as a city run about and was wondering if there are any permanent fixes for the clutch pack that overheats in Indian stop and go conditions and found this product. I am wary because a friend's GT TSI's clutch packed up a week after his warranty was over. Wouldn't want to see a GTI going out of action over the infamous DQ200 failure. You could possibly also experience the 320 Nm that is there in the manual GTI, which is something you mentioned is limited to 250 Nm in the automatic version. Congrats on an amazing car!

http://www.tmg-performance.com/en/dsg7-kevlar-597.html

[Chethan B G]

Wise decision as always! Excellent review! Congratulations!! Lovely set of rides you have!

Auto headlights omission is surprising!

Enjoy your rides and drive safe buddy.

[GeeTee TSI]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

The car has a lot of grip and the XDS electronic differential allows you to take some crazy lines on curves and corners. It brakes the inner front wheel so that power is delivered to the outside wheel only.

Do you experience torque steer during hard straight line acceleration, the GTI being a powerful front wheel drive car? Despite being way down in power, I experience 'lightness' in the steering wheel in my GT TSI during a launch.